Little Girl Gone

21



Using the planes to mask his movements, Logan scuttled back to the next row, then started trying each aircraft door that he passed.

Locked.

Locked.

Locked.

Locked.

Big city people. No trust.

By the time he arrived at the fifth plane, Tooney’s assailant had reached the parking area. Logan tried the next door, and was already in the process of moving on when he realized the handle had actually turned.

Easing the door open, he crawled inside. The plane creaked as it took on his weight. He just hoped it wasn’t loud enough to be heard more than a few feet away. He closed the door, then scrunched down in the space between the front and back seats. A blanket would have been nice, or something else to cover himself with, but there was nothing.

All he could do now was wait and listen.

At first he could only hear the man’s footsteps, but then a familiar rattling sound joined them, and Logan instantly knew the guy was trying the doors of the planes.

Logan glanced over to see if there was a way to lock his cabin door from inside, but if there was, he couldn’t spot it from his current position, and couldn’t risk twisting around to take a closer look.

He slipped the gun out of his pocket and pointed it at the door, hoping he wouldn’t have to use it. The steps and the rattling grew nearer. Logan had no idea exactly where the man was, but he couldn’t have been more than a few planes away.

Suddenly an outburst of music cut through the night, stopping after a few seconds, mid-note.

“Yeah?” a voice said, the same voice Logan had heard in Tooney’s café. “No. Nothing. Are you positive you saw someone?...It was probably just a maintenance guy or something…Yeah, okay. Be right there.”

Logan assumed the man had hung up, but he held his position because he hadn’t heard him walk away.

One minute passed, then two. Then—

A foot scraped on the tarmac, then another, and another. Soon the scrapes became footsteps that grew fainter and fainter until Logan could no longer hear them.

He resisted the urge to check for another minute. When he finally did look out the cockpit window, the man was all the way back at the jet.

Logan returned the gun to his pocket, and exited the plane. As quickly as he could, he made his way over to a dark area near the fence, then moved along it until he reached a small storage shed that was about as close as he dared get to the jet.

The first thing he did was to write down the tail number and a general description of the aircraft in his notebook. It was a sizable plane that was probably about as large as the airport could handle. Logan had no doubt it could easily fly from one coast to the other with fuel to spare.

From his vantage point, he could see the open cabin door, and a short staircase that led down from the plane to the tarmac. Outside the building, four men huddled together. Ryan was one of them, as was the guy who’d just been searching for Logan. One of the other two was younger, like Ryan, which made Logan think he might be the recently-moved-out Aaron Hughes. The final guy was black, and probably in his early thirties. Logan had never seen him before, but wondered if he might have been the black guy Joan and Maria had mentioned.

After about five minutes, Ryan and the guy Logan decided to anoint as Aaron went inside the building. The other two talked for a few more seconds, then headed over to the jet. One of the guys called inside, then a man wearing a simple uniform appeared in the doorway. From the way he was dress, Logan though he was probably the pilot.

The three men talked for several moments, then one of the men on the ground pulled out a phone and made a call. The conversation went on for no more than thirty seconds, then he hung up and said something to the other two.

The pilot nodded, seemingly satisfied, and disappeared back into the plane. A few moments later, the jet’s engines fired up. This seemed to be the cue the guys in the building had been waiting for, because soon Ryan, Aaron, and the man who’d chased Logan and Angie on the freeway came outside and joined the others.

Standing together at the foot of the stairs, the men seemed antsy, none of them saying very much, then Ryan suddenly glanced over his shoulder toward the access road. A second later, the others did the same.

Logan followed their gaze, and immediately spotted a dark Chevy Suburban approaching from the east. Once it turned off the access road, it circled the plane, then pulled around the wing to get as close to the aircraft as possible. The two front doors opened, and two men stepped out. The driver had a similar look and feel to the other men waiting with Ryan and Aaron. The passenger, on the other hand, was older. Maybe mid-forties, and dressed in a well-tailored, dark suit.

Mr. Andrews?

There were no hugs or handshakes, just a tight gathering as the group listened to the man in the suit. When he was through, he pointed at the SUV.

Almost immediately, the Suburban’s back passenger doors flew open, and a man got out from each side. The one who’d been sitting behind the driver leaned back in like he’d forgotten his bag or something, but what he pulled out wasn’t a bag. It was a small, young, Asian woman.

The distance made definitive identification difficult, especially since Logan had only seen a picture of Elyse and had never met her in person. But he had little doubt that the woman was indeed Tooney’s granddaughter.

She appeared to be drugged as the man half-walked, half-carried her toward the plane.

Just a couple of hundred feet separated Logan from the girl he had promised to find, the girl he had promised to bring back to her grandfather. But there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. If he tried, the only result he could see was one that ended with both the girl and himself dead.

Feeling completely helpless, he watched as the man loaded her onto the plane. As soon as she was onboard, Aaron, Ryan and the three who had been waiting with them followed the suited man up the steps.

The guy who’d been driving, and the other one from the backseat got back into the Suburban, and pulled it over to the side, out of the way.

Logan assumed they were just parking it, and would be joining the others, but then the plane’s entry door was pulled up and slammed shut. Almost immediately the jet began to taxi away.

Wherever the plane was headed, it was going, and there was nothing Logan could do about it.

At that moment, it would have been so easy to slip into despair. Given the turns his life had taken, it would have been understandable. But it was because of those turns, and the chance to do something to chip away at them, even if just a little, that he resisted the temptation, and concentrated on what he had to do next—find out where that plane was headed. And the sooner he did that, the better.

As the jet headed toward the runway, Logan pulled out his phone and called Ruth’s cell. Once it started ringing, he stepped out from behind the shed, and began walking in plan sight toward the building the others had been using.

It took five rings for her to answer. “Who is this?”

“It’s Logan.”

“Oh, Christ. Harper, didn’t I tell you not to use this phone?” She paused. “Oh, God. It’s after one a.m. What do you want?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t have a choice. I need you to check on a plane for me.”

“A what?”

“An airplane. A jet. One of those executive types.”

He was halfway to the building now, gesturing broadly with his hands like he was reacting to what was being said on the phone. But his movement had nothing to do with Ruth. They were meant to draw the attention of the men in the Suburban.

“Look. I am not your personal information house. Okay? Call someone else.”

The gestures worked. The vehicle started rolling forward on a course to cut Logan off.

“Ruth, I know that. But there is no one else. And I really need your help.”

She was silent for a moment. “Dammit. You’re going to make a habit of this, aren’t you?”

“I’m trying not to.”

“You’re obviously not trying hard enough. Hold on.”

As he waited, the Suburban pulled to a stopped ten feet from the building, then both front doors opened, and the two men who’d remained behind got out.

“All right,” she said. “I’m ready.”

He gave her the plane’s identification number. “I really need to know who owns it, and where it’s supposed to be headed.”

“How soon?”

“Now would be good.”

“Seriously?”

“I’m…I’m sorry.”

She was quiet for a moment, then said, “I’ll call you back as soon as I can.”

The line went dead. Logan, though, kept the phone pressed to his ear, and nodded like he was listening.

As soon as he was within earshot of the men waiting for him, he said, “Yeah, they’re all secure. Just doing a final check of the east buildings….No. Should be there in ten minutes….Okay. See you then.” He touched the screen, pretending to hang up. As he neared the Suburban, he smiled. “Evening, gentlemen. I assume you guys have a pass to be out here.”

The two men eyed him suspiciously, then exchanged a look. “Sure. Of course we do,” the older-looking one said.

“Can I take a look at it, please?” Logan stopped in front of them, the smile still on his face.

The older one looked at his colleague. “Get it.”

The other man walked back to the Suburban, and pulled a paper pass off the dash. When he returned, he handed it over. Logan gave it a careful look.

“Which one of you is Mr. Williams?” he asked.

“I am,” the guy who’d been doing the talking said.

“So you would be Mr. Dean?” Logan said to the other one.

“Uh-huh.”

Logan looked at his watch. “Your pass expires in just a couple of minutes. You should probably be on your way.”

“You work for the airport?” Mr. Williams asked.

“Night security.”

Mr. Dean’s eyes narrowed. “Then where’s your uniform?”

“I’m not a rent-a-cop. I own the security company, so I can wear whatever I damn well please.”

In the distance, Logan could hear the jet’s engine revving up and getting ready for take-off.

“Were you here for that plane?” he asked.

“I don’t think that’s any of your business,” Mr. Williams said.

“Well, if you weren’t here for that plane, then what are you here for?”

Before either of them could answer, the jet began roaring down the runway, making it impossible to hear anything. Both men turned their heads to look.

Don’t ever give them a chance.

Mr. Williams was standing in the unfortunate position closest to Logan, so he was the first to go down. An open palm uppercut under the chin did the trick, sending a surprise shock to his brain that instantly shut his system down. His partner didn’t notice until it was too late, and quickly joined his friend on the asphalt.

Logan made sure they were both out, then searched them.

They each were carrying pistols, Smith & Wessons. As for IDs, though they both did have driver’s licenses in the names of Williams and Dean respectively, they also had ones in the names of Hoover and Jenson, too. So it wasn’t a leap to assume their real names were none of the above.

Logan checked the door of the building. It was locked, but only by a single dead bolt. He picked it quickly, then hauled the two men inside. With some duct tape he found in one of the cabinets, he secured their wrists and ankles, then splashed water from a cooler in Williams’ face. It took three cups before Williams finally sputtered, and opened his eyes.

“What the hell?” Williams said, as he realized he was restrained. He looked around, then caught sight of Logan. “Let me go, you son of a bitch! You’re messing with the wrong person, man.”

“Mr. Williams, where are your friends headed?”

“What friends?”

“The ones you gave the girl to. The ones on the jet?”

He shrugged. “Sorry. Don’t know.”

Logan smiled, then kicked him hard in the ribs. “You’re already in this for kidnapping. Quite possibly human trafficking, too. You sure you don’t want to cooperate?”

“You ain’t no cop. You can’t charge me with anything.”

“That’s true. But you know what that means? I don’t have to follow any of their rules. Where are they going?”

“Go to hell.”

Logan kicked him again.

“Ah! Come on. Stop it!”

“You tell me what I want to know, and I will. Until then…” Another kick.

“Who the hell do you think you are?”

“I’m the guy standing over you with my foot in your ribs, and your guns in my pocket. Good enough? Maybe we should see how hard that head of yours is.”

Logan adjusted his stance so that it appeared as if he were going to kick the guy in the temple.

“Dude, lay off. All right? I don’t know where they went. They just hired us for the job here, you know? A little muscle, a little driving, some babysitting.”

“Who hired you?”

When it didn’t look like he was going to answer, Logan tapped his ear with the toe of his shoe.

“Okay, okay,” Williams said. “The guy’s name is Andrews. That’s all I know.”

“The suit who was in the car with you?”

“Yeah.”

“Who does he work for?”

“I’m telling you, I don’t know anything more.”

“And I’m telling you, I don’t believe you.”

“It’s the truth, man!” he pleaded.

“You never met anyone else in charge?”

“No.”

“Just this Andrews guy?”

“Yeah. Yeah. Just him. How many times do you want to hear it?”

Logan wasn’t sure whether to believe him or not, but he knew he didn’t have the time to waste trying to get the info out of him.

Once again he got a hold Dev through his father, and arranged for some more of the Marine’s vet buddies to pick up these two, and hold them somewhere until Logan decided what they should do with them.

“You got quite an operation going,” Dev said once Logan had explained everything.

“It’s not a problem, is it?”

“Hell, no. It’s great to be doing real work again.”